Hi, everybody. I was just wondering if any of you out there have good ideas on buying healthy but not blowing your budget. I really don't have much money to spend per month on groceries, and as of lately I have been spending around 50-60$ every week, but at this point all of my money goes to that (I only have 70$ to my name every week). My problem is I don't want to just get by on cheap, bad foods even if they are in my calorie range (1500-1600 a day). It just seems that even with me spending that much I don't seem to have much left at the end of each week, so there is a day or too that I don't have healthy foods around. So yeah just looking for suggestions on what all you out there do. Thanks so much

mix 1 cup flour with the yeast and sweetener.
add water and whisk.
let sit for 10 min.
add salt, oil, and remaining flour (gradually) until dough forms.
dough should not be sticky-if it is, add a little more flour.
form dough into ball and let sit 20 min. in a towel-covered bowl in warm spot.
roll or press out until the size of your pan (13x9" or round pizza pan).
onto well-oiled pan, place crust.
*this crust recipe can also be used to make yummy breadsticks or calzones.

mix all together and use it to top the pizza.
*add any chopped veggies you like. veggie pepperoni, gimme lean "sausage", or bbq seitan are also good additions.

cook your pizza:
cover pan with foil and bake at 350° for 20 min.
remove foil and bake at 400° 15 more minutes.
crust should be brown on bottom and veggies cooked.

blackeyed peas

1 lb. dry blackeyed peas, soaked overnight (use plenty of water in a large pot)
salt and pepper

drain soaked peas in colander and rinse.
fill pot with at least 2 qts. water.
add peas and bring to a boil.
reduce heat to medium and cook for about 3 hrs., adding more water if necessary.
peas should be soft.

roasted sweet potatoes

3 lg. sweet potatoes, washed and cut into chunks.

spread potatoes evenly onto baking sheet and brush or drizzle with olive oil.
sprinkle with salt and bake at 400° about 25-30 min. until potatoes are browned.

You can save even more money by using beans and legumes from bulk bins instead of buying canned ones. Buy larger sizes of staple foods that you'll use regularly and split up max-packs with a friend to save! GOOD LUCK!

Grocery costs vary a lot place to place and I don't know what sort of diet you're on, so I'll just try to give general advice. First, look at sale flyers. I buy lots of fruit and veggies, but mostly what's on sale. So lately we've had lots of apples, bananas, pears and even some strawberries for fruit. Veggies have been green pepper, radish, green onion, leaf lettuce, cauliflower, mushrooms, carrots, onions, zuchinni, broccoli. With that I've made green soup, curried vegtables (served with brown basmati), big salads, and a big pot of veggie soup. At different times of year, I end up eating different foods and I plan my meals by what's on sale rather than deciding what I want to eat and then going into the store.

Use beans (canned or dried) or lentils or tvp instead of meat. Veggie chili is cheap to make and can be frozen in individual servings. Lentil soup is cheap and easy and ditto on the freezing. Bean burritos are filling and good. Spices and herbs are key there to making food good.

We eat a lot of yogurt (among other things) at my house, so when it's on sale, I buy a lot of it so that I don't end up paying more for the same product later in the month when we run out. After watching sales flyers for a while, you get to know how often different items go on sale, so you know how much to buy at one time.

thanks soo much for the help, yeah I am not on any certain diet just watching what i eat, only whole grains, lean meats, and lots of fruits and veggies. One of my biggest problems is that I own my own business so I leave my house at 7:30am to go to the gym then I have mabye 45 minutes at home before I go to work, and then i am only home for a couple of hours before I go to sleep, so that is a big problme too because i don't really have a lot of time to prep or cook. oh and i forgot to add that I live in montana, so sometimes fresh produce isn't always very cheap.

One thing I do is to look for sales on high dollar items (like meat) then buy in bulk and freeze it. The other day I bought 8lbs of boneless chicken at half the price it would normally cost. Then I split it all into serving sizes appropriate for a meal for me and my fiancee and froze them. I do that with bread as well. Since I never eat an entire loaf before it goes moldy, I freeze half into individual portions. You can reuse freezer bags that were NOT used to store meat. Putting bread in the fridge also keeps it fresh and unmoldy longer.

Long grain rice, Whole wheat cuscous, whole wheat pasta, tabouli, these things usually cost around a dollar and are not only cheap and healthy, they're easy to prepare. If you're eating alone, only make what you need for your meal and store the rest in an air-tight container. Or make the whole box and eat the rest as leftovers. Or freeze the leftovers for an easy meal later.

Ask around about local farmers markets or direct sellers of fruits and veggies. Lots of people have gardens and sell their veggies out of their yard at a fraction of the cost of what you can get it in the store. The quality and taste are generally better as well.

Aside from that, I know sweet potatos are very inexpensive and are good for you, and low in fat and cals. Roasted, they usually don't need any sort of seasoning, so they're pretty much the cheapest thing you can eat.